In the prior art machines, the user has no way of knowing when the current messages have ended during an operation in which he causes the message tape to rewind, and then to move in the forward direction, so that he can retrieve the messages recorded on the message tape. This is because, when the message tape is set to playback, it will continue to reproduce all current messages, and will continue to move in the forward direction after the current messages have all been reproduced. This continued forward movement of the message tape often results in previous unerased messages to be reproduced. This can cause confusion to the user, since it is often difficult to distinguish between current and previous messages.
The problem described in the preceding paragraph is solved by the control system of the present invention in which the message tape is rewound by the operation of a local switch, which causes the message tape to move forward to play back the recorded messages, and which automatically causes the forward motion of the message tape to stop after the user has retrieved all current messages recorded on the message tape, and returns the machine to its automatic answer condition ready to answer the next call. This is achieved in the machine to be described by a microcomputer which senses the amolunt of message tape rewound when a rewind operation is initiated by operation of the manual switch, and then automatically causes the message tape to stop when it again reaches the point at which the rewind was initiated during the ensuing playback operation. Alternate implementations are to remember the tape position by reading the current tape position from a code on the tape or by recording a tone or tones which will be recognized when played back at the original position.
As noted above, the control system returns the machine to its automatic answer condition after the message tape has been automatically stopped. Should the user wish to retain the messages on the message tape, no further operation on his part is necessary. However, if the user does not wish to retain the messages on the message tape, he merely causes the message tape to rewind to a selected origin position.